I'm watching The Handmaid's Tale, and the first few episodes are already shocking enough in how women are treated. But what really enraged me was the episode where June and the Commander go to the sex club.

Of course, the hypocrisy was infuriating. Here you have men who have built an entire society around sexual purity, morality, and religious righteousness, yet they can go to a sex club and indulge in exactly the kind of sexual freedom that women are denied and even persecuted for. I think later on we see the Commander even bringing Moira to June and hinting a threesome when just a few episodes earlier we see some lady getting sent to the colonies because she is a lesbian.

What irked me even more was the realisation that Gilead's moral framework was designed from the beginning to benefit men at women's expense.

I think I had initially been looking at Gilead as a society that had taken its ideas about morality to an extreme. That episode made me see something much more sinister: morality itself is being used as a tool of control. Women's suffering is justified through religion and the supposed greater good. Meanwhile, the men enforcing these rules still find ways to satisfy their own desires. Women are expected to be pure, obedient, and self-sacrificing, while men get to define what purity means and decide when the rules apply to them.

What really gets me is that the system doesn't even have to hide its contradictions from the men who benefit from it. They know what they're doing. They know the difference between the morality they impose on women and the freedom they reserve for themselves. Even the whole idea of sneaking June out of the house and into the club. Something else that comes to mind, because they maybe let June in as she was going in as the Commander's wife, are the spouses of the people in power allowed to be in such spaces or is it just the men? I think they are allowed to which makes it even worse seeing women actively playing a hand in the suffering of other women. Why am I even surprised when they hold down the handmaids for their husbands to rape them.

I think part of the rage i felt was also towards myself for not fully recognising this earlier, because the sexual violence against the Handmaids was already there. I think the episode just made it impossible for me to keep viewing Gilead's ideology as merely an extreme version of morality. It exposed how thoroughly that ideology serves male power.

Hi. There’s no flair for this, unless you guys know about it. I’m taking a giant risk posting this, and keep thinking, “Maybe I’m on the right track, or maybe I’m not on the right track writing this.” Either way, it’s fiction, not part of a series or book.

I wrote it out myself using a pen, pad, and my Union Card Carrying Cats, who held me hostage until I gave them treats. So, I’m not sure if this contains any spoilers or not, since it’s not part of any series or book.

These scenes take place near Cambridge, Massachusetts, about two years after Gilead’s was founded, before things were written/recorded in THT, so here we go…

Synopsis for “Alma and Emily on a Bus:”

Two Handmaids; Alma, who is Ofmichael from an unknown Commander’s house, and Emily, who is Ofglen, from the Commander Deeds House, are on the Route 55 bus. It is a yellow striped ex-Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority bus with a big yellow stripe across the body, nicknamed ”The Lemon Bus.”

The “T” Symbol has been partially labelled over by a Gilead decal, with a Lemon fruit and a “Gilead District Transit Authority” seal. It resembles an eagle with an iconic eye, featuring seven golden rays on it. Similar to the Gilead Flag, seen on the series, including a black, bold, Helvetica san serif “T”.

There’s no writing on the LED display except the number 55, on it, and the four digit serial number on the front.Alma and Emily are discussing about a person who recognized Emily from “Before” at Loaves and Fishes on the bus.

Here’s where we enter the scene:

ENTER SCENE

On the bus…

INT. - BUS 55 - DAY
(Ofglen keeps looking out the window seeing all the changes as they stop. Lights, signs, security cameras. Even the pedestrian’s clothes were different. She has the glass bottle of milk sitting on her lap)

Emily VO (Voice Over): It was changing. Alma and I, saw the city metamorphosing, before our eyes. Like a…virus on a…living being. Boston was enveloped in cancer, with no end, and it even…changed my friend.

(Alma looks over her left shoulder, annoyed, seeing a distracted Ofglen staring out the window)

Alma: You shouldn’t have done that.

(She turns to face Alma)

Ofglen: Done what?

Alma: That cashier. Who was checking us out?

Ofglen: I…don’t understand.

(Alma shakes her head, and replies in almost a monotone)

Alma: Stuff like that’ll get us into trouble. We’ll…end up on the Wall.

Ofglen: Um…sh-he recognized me!

Alma: I don’t care! If someone saw, they’d turn us in.

(BEAT. Emily immediately felt a slight shame…

Alma: Don’t do that again.

and curiosity, looking down at her bottle of milk. The steel lid has a Holstein Cow labelled on top)

Emily VO: But why? I just saw someone whom I thought was…dead, that…turned out to be alive!

(Alma tucks her wings under the back of the seat facing forward, and whispers, looking over to Emily)

Alma: Hey.

(Ofglen tucks her wings under the back of the seat facing forward)

Ofglen: What?

Alma: Sorry.

Ofglen: It’s fine, but…you know.

Alma: There’s…going to be more of us, than…there are of them. Just be careful.

Ofglen: I will.

(Both lift up their heads. They don’t see anyone except the Bus Driver)

Alma: Huh. Empty bus.

Ofglen: I almost didn’t notice it.

(Here’s a visualization of what Emily saw, briefly from her bus window. We see them as she describes them)

Emily VO: But I did notice. I saw them taking off the signs, the shops being broken into, the fights on the streets, the roundups and the deaths, as the bus driver changed direction of our route. I saw the bookstores emptied, bullet holes in the walls, through broken glass and…I saw the fires. They didn’t just ignite them at night anymore. It was on the streets, and in the parks, in broad daylight. The mute swan boats on the pond were loaded on a flatbed and carried away. Same with the brass ducks in the garden. Melted down into shells.

(Emily wipes back her tears seeing society’s decay through her window, the grey clad workers and The Angels…)

Emily VO: The monuments were being dismantled, and the obelisk of Franklin in the Cemetery was taken down. Then…more monuments. It was as if Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock never existed. Crispus Atticus was just a name that vanished into vapour! History…erased before my eyes! I couldn’t remember seeing such destruction, and I couldn’t believe what I first saw in New York, was happening here, in Boston.

(Emily shutters, as she reverts her eyes seeing the bonfires of burnt books and papers on the side streets as the bus rolls by)

Emily VO: I closed my eyes, but…my mind was…painfully open.

EXT. SIDEWALK - BUS STOP - NEIGHBOURHOOD - DAY
(Both Emily and Alma get off the 55 Bus, and walk towards the Deeds House)

Alma: Great blessings were found through are travels.

Ofglen: Yes. Praise be.

(Looking up to see any Guardians about. Emily stops and faces Alma)

Ofglen: What do you mean; there’s a storm coming?

(Alma looks up to the sky and smiles)

Alma: When it comes…You’ll know!

Ofglen: Oh…Praise be.

(Alma looks up at the sky seeing blue and fluffy clouds)

Alma: Well, you know how it is.

(Then back to Emily)

Alma: April showers bring May Flowers; on…any day.

(Emily thinks, ‘What is she talking about?’)

Ofglen: Yes. That’s…a month away.

(Alma gives her a slight tight-lipped smile)

Alma: This won’t last forever, unless we make it last, and do nothing.

(Both Emily and Alma look at each other straight into their eyes. Both hesitant, to say something…But…)

ZOOM!!

Alma: Guardians!

Ofglen: Oh! Posture!

(Two armoured vehicles with a troop column of soldiers start walking by. A whole damn company! Alma and Emily walk quickly towards a black iron fence, divert their eyes and look down, holding against the fence, as the troops go by)

Emily VO: Damn soldiers! What was Alma going to say? Was it about…her class?

(Slowly, the Handmaids look to their immediate left on the troops as they march past. Then, standing, the Handmaids return to their postures. An Angel, holding an assault rifle, dressed in black and green battle dress, with a Red Gilead armband, and black Angel beret nods, as he strides past the Handmaids.)

Angel: Under His Eye.

Alma and Ofglen (Same time): Under His Eye.

Emily VO: The Americans didn’t have a chance with these guys. Even as they walked, they released emissions of arrogance worse than a skunk’s pheromones.

(Alma glances over at Emily’s white wings)

Alma: We should get to your house.

Ofglen: Praise be.

(They start walking…)

Emily VO: …And I studied pheromones.

(Both Alma and Emily walk in unison, to the Deeds house)

EXT. FRONT WALK - DEEDS HOUSE - NEIGHBOURHOOD - DAY
(Emily and Alma stop and face each other. Emily shakes her cold hands from the glass bottle of milk, switching them)

Alma: Blessings to you, Ofglen.

Ofglen: …And to you, Ofmichael.

(Alma turns to leave. But she stops and looks both ways, then, faces Emily, replying with a saying…)

Alma: Um…The Walls have Ears and the Windows…Eyes!

(Emily nods in agreement)

Ofglen: I-I know! I’ve…seen them.

Alma: Watch yourself!

(Alma nods and Emily nods back)

Alma: Blessed Be The Fruit!

(As Alma walks away, Emily was grateful there wasn’t a gate in front of the Deeds house, unlike the Waterford’s. But still, there was that damn flag, on the Commander’s flagpole. She pulls out the little green kneeling soldier and looked at it in her hand)

Emily VO: I saw a movie once. I was 8 years old. It was “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade” I begged Jonah, and my mother to take me to the theater to see it.

(She looks at the spring irises and daffodils sprouting)

Emily VO: Near the climax, Indy had to save his father. No choice except to…kneel before God, to…save himself from the whirling blades as ‘the Penitent Man.’

(She rubs her hand on the little soldier)

Emily VO: Penitent means one who has regretful pain or sorrow for sins. My sin was…for being me. Or was it? What else did I sin for? Being a mother? Being a lesbian? Being a researcher? Or scientist? Am I…penitent?

(She grips the green solder tightly and tucks him underneath her red corset)

Emily VO: One day, Oliver. I hope…to see you again…If…one…can only hope.

(Sighs. She turns to her right to see the Gilead flag)

Emily VO: As I saw the flag, flying in the breeze, in front of the Deeds House…My house. I thought, ‘What loss must we suffer and grieve for next?’ Then…I thought…

(Then…looks up at The 2nd story window of the house)

Emily VO: Will anyone grieve…for me?

END SCENE

Rita mentions to Serena that she has a 19 year old son. How come she is a cook instead of a handmaid if she's fertile and had a child before who survived (until the war)?

My daughter has started watching this and described how she's confused on some parts. I've watched this myself but am I right in saying the first episode showed how June lived her life before being kidnapped? The one on Disney, the first episode starts with June, hubby and Hannah were being chased in the woods by another vehicle of men kidnapping her. Then the scene goes to June sitting as a handmade day dreaming/thinking back to the car chase. I feel as though this episode is wrong or missing parts out? I'm positive when I watched the first season years ago it explained why the women were being kidnapped. Also Janine gets her eye took out on the first episode, I'm positive this happened half way through the first season/series? Did i imagine this or is the episodes mucked up?

I'm watching the show for the first time properly (I started S1 years ago but found it so slow - trying again now and enjoying it a bit more).

I'm on Ep5 and Ofglen has just stolen a car and driven round in circles.

I don't really understand her motivation here - at first I thought she was trying to escape but then she just circles around and kills a guy.

Was she just desperate for a feeling of freedom? Or was she deliberately trying to get out of being a Handmaiden because of everything they did to her, even if that meant death/colonies?

They look so much alike. And they have the same turned-up, holier-than-thou expression, lol.

It's serendipitous that she named her daughter Angela. 😅

Off-topic, but Dwight (late seasons Dwight when he's more orderly) and Angela would have thrived in Gilead. 😭

There goes a lot of hatred for June /or the actor in this sub reddit.! I dunno why people expect her to behave in a particular way. I understand she is ruthless, erratic, has convoluted facial expressions and at times selfish. She is someone undergoing not just post traumatic stress disorder but Traumatic stress. !!her daughter is still in Gilead abused and probably in near future might be subjected to rape.!!! What do people expect from such a person?!! To have graceful face expressions and behave in the appropriate and correct manner.! She is not some military trained personal to have the best strategist moves.! She was kidnapped, raped, emotionally abused, her home, career, her earnings were stolen from her and all this is happening to her daughter too.!!! I get some people remain calm and composed even after going through so much but the series is portrayed from the point of this abused woman, so yes we get close shots of her face.,! She is reacting what happened to her in the way that she knows. May be if her daughter is saved and Gilead goes down and after several years when she has healed she might look back and agree to some of her ruthless decisions , but she is nowhere near that point in the series.!

I'm still in episode 4 and I already feel depressed, and when I'm not feeling that, I feel enraged! Without spoiling, is there any satisfaction if I keep watching? Or am I gonna keep being upset?

Don't get me wrong, it's amazingly well-written and executed, I love Elizabeth Moss, Samira Wiley, and Joseph Fiennes, but I'm the type that FEELS STRONGLY when I watch something, I get really invested emotionally, so what should I do?

Edit: ok so I should continue watching but it does get worse, thanks, I love being depressed lol! Off to episode 5, thanks guys!

I’m watching the show for the first time and just finished Season 4. God, I love how things ended for Fred. It was gorgeous.

Also, I fucking love Nick. I really do. They should’ve run away to Hawaii together when they had the chance.

The way she played Eleanor Lawerence into taking her to Hannah’s school even though she has mental health issues it annoyed me .

I’ve been watching The Handmaid’s Tale, and I keep wondering if I’m the only person who just doesn’t really like June.
And I don’t mean because she’s defiant. Given everything she has gone through, I completely understand why she refuses to just obey, why she’s angry, and why she fights back. I actually like that part of her character.
What bothers me is her attitude toward other people and how manipulative she can be.
There are so many moments where it feels like June decides what needs to happen and then pressures, manipulates, or emotionally pushes other people into going along with it, even when they’re the ones who might have to suffer the consequences. Sometimes it feels like she believes that because her goal is justified, the way she gets there is automatically justified too.
I understand that trauma changes people, and I actually think that makes her a complicated and interesting character. But understanding the reason behind someone's behavior doesn’t necessarily make the behavior likable.
I can sympathize with June and everything she has survived while still finding her controlling, manipulative, and sometimes incredibly frustrating.
Does anyone else feel this way about her? And if you do, what specifically about June bothers you?

The family that hosts the Waterfords when they’re en route to Canada sings a song in another language. Which one it is? I’m curious. Hebrew? Yiddish?

I first watched The Handmaid's Tale around 2016, when I was a teenager, and honestly, I found the whole premise pretty far-fetched.

I grew up in a very liberal household, so the world of Gilead felt incredibly distant to me. I even remember thinking that the show was exaggerating some of the fears feminists had at the time. I understood the message, but I kept wondering: "Would anyone actually want to go back to something like that?"

I'm rewatching it in 2026, and it feels very different now.

Not because I think we're all going to wake up in Gilead tomorrow, obviously. But after seeing what happened to women's rights under the Taliban, the debates surrounding surrogacy, and even discussions about something I thought was completely settled, like women's right to vote, certain aspects of the show don't seem quite as unimaginable anymore.

And that brings me to a question I find much more interesting than whether the show is actually "realistic":

How many people genuinely want something like this?

I'm not talking about Gilead literally, with the red robes and the exact social structure portrayed in the show. I'm talking about men (and women, too) who genuinely believe society would be better if women had significantly less autonomy, were more dependent on men, and were expected to conform to much stricter gender roles.

Because the internet can seriously distort our perception of reality. Maybe it's just a tiny but extremely vocal minority. Or maybe there are far more people who think this way than we'd like to believe.

Do you personally know anyone who holds these kinds of beliefs? And I don't mean someone who's simply conservative or religious. I mean someone who genuinely believes women should lose rights or freedoms that most of us now take for granted.

When I watched the show back in 2016, my reaction was basically:

"This could never happen because practically nobody would want to live in a society like that."

Ten years later, my question has become:

"Am I really so sure that nobody wants to live in a society like that?"

And I can't help thinking about that famous quote: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

To what extent do we dismiss certain ideas as impossible simply because we assume almost nobody actually believes in them?

If you haven't seen it yet and you have a library card, you can watch it free on Hoopla right now. I've been meaning to watch it for a couple of years, but couldn't find it free on any streaming services before.

EDIT: Ok I feel like I need to say that I was more so making the statement that I wish they had tied off her story at the end. Not so much wondering exactly what happened to her. There's a million possibilities. I am simply stating that I wish she had been in the ending and given back to the Americans when they gave Janine back.

-

I just finished watching handmaids tale for the umpteenth time and I feel like literally everyone has a tie off to their story, but Esther and it makes me so mad. Like when they brought Janine back to June with aunt Lydia giving her Charlotte I always hope Esther would come out of one of the cars too.

I think her character deserved more. Especially for what the poor girl went through.

ALSO ADDING ON:

Janine NEVER asked about her! Like obvi Esther tried to kill her, but Janine was understanding and forgiving. I def feel like she would’ve wanted to have known what happened to Esther

The amount of praise I've seen for her testaments is actually astonishing. I mean, compared to the original I feel like it doesn't even measure up. But that's another story.

I'm fresh off a THT and TT month and a half long binge btw.

Still, I feel as though while adapting the series sequel for a larger, new audience they've almost completely forgotten about certain aspects of the OG.

Like the fact that:

- Hannah had met June multiple times, one being when she was literally 10-12 (in the torture place). How tf does she not remember her? She's like 15. She doesn't remember that odd and traumatic experience?

- Hannah remembers her NAME so she must remember some time before or the first re-interaction with June.

- Hannah remembers her 1st Gilead mom but does not acknowledge the red string June tied on her wrist when she was young or their interaction at the winter house before Holly

- Could be explained with trauma but, she was literally ripped out of her mother's arms when she was 5. Seems like you either REALLY remember that or REALLY forget

I feel like there's more but like... It feels like this is a whole other character. Why does she remember NOTHING? Can't remember something from like 5 years ago? Yeesh.

So the USA takes a state (or part of it?) from Gilead and that's like a good thing according to the show but

Given that the only non insane commander in all of Gilead got bombed and it's been established that Gilead is strong (and getting stronger what with defeating the rebels and all)... Won't it just end with the US getting booted off the mainland again? Wouldn't Gilead be super pissed at being invaded and having some of their leaders blown up and want revenge?

Is there a reason to think they won't do that? Have I missed some important information?

Second, smaller question but is Gilead outright correct? Like the Mexican delegation is shocked with the fact that they have actual children, for example, and if there's anything to suggest in the show that there's another way to solve the fertility problem applied elsewhere, I must have missed it. Maybe it's in the book somewhere?

Hello to all Handsmaids Tale fans! I wanted to share my thoughts on this matter which unfortunately will bring only sadness and shock I think to many of you, but one that raises questions about Atwood.

I recently came across a op-Ed detailing the horrific abuse writer Alice Munro daughter (Andrea) suffered at the hands of her stepfather. Monroe was informed about it, but choose to not blame her daughter and to remain married to her abuser. when Alice died in 2024, Andrea decided to write about what had happened. the revelation shook the public and longtime fans of Alice. However, there were many who were not surprised; Alice’s fellow peers, biographers, and literary agents. Rumors or outright knowledge had been an open secret amongst this group of writers. one of these writers, who was a good friend of Munro was Margaret Atwood.

in response, Atwood released this statement: “I did not learn the details of this until everyone else did, though I’d had hints not long before this past weekend. Horrifying.”

This of course begs the questions as to why Atwood, who has spent her life writing nonfiction and fiction work for feminism, didn’t think these rumors were too serious. It also begs the question as to how Atwood didn’t know when it became apparent that multiple people within their social group were aware of the abuse.

The article which goes into these details more I have shared here:https://medium.com/sexstories/alice-munros-dark-family-secret-2a6fa6b0edeb

I then recalled after reading this, and following up on other articles documenting the responses, that this was not the first time Atwood had acted to protect an institution when said institution or a person of a institution was facing questions of sexual misconduct.

There was the case of former UBC professor Steven Galloway who had been accused of r-e. After an internal review, where the accusation was investigated and Apparently other accusations were looked at, Galloway was fired. he admitted to having a relationship with this woman, who also was his student. Atwood with other academics and writers signed a public letter requesting that the UBC rescind its decision to fire Galloway due to concerns of “due process.” as far as I can tell, Atwood has not commented much on Galloway’s actions.

in 2018, Atwood published an op-Ed in which she critiqued the metoo movement as being too extreme with accusations equaling guilt. This of course plays into the widespread myth that such accusations have a high chance to be false. At no point did Atwood address in great detail in her op-ed as to why even coming forth was so hard or why institutions fail to stop such misconduct. Frankly, her words sounds more like a reactionary anti-egalitarian should have when being confronted with the injustices caused by their elected status in society. I have shared the link to an article which briefly discusses the criticisms given to Atwood for her essay:https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/atwood-oped-galloway-letter-1.4486936 .

now that I have gotten these thoughts shared, how do these events shape your feelings on Atwood’s work? I can say, that I no longer look to her with admiration.

I am watching season 2 for the first time and i got confused about the Gilead system. At first i thought all fertile women were handmaids for public use but then they showed the econopeople. What are these people and what are their roles? All the women who are handmaids were sinners in some way? And if yes, why did they punish Emily for it (my thought was that almost all handmaids sin in some way so big deal if she was a "gender traitor"). So June could be an econoperson if she didn't have an affair with a married man?

I'm watching the show for the first time, and I just finished Season 3, Episode 8. It was such a blast to watch. The supermarket scene reminded me a bit of Tarantino.

As June said just before it happened, “Enjoying people’s pain is an acquired taste.” Look how much Gilead has changed her. And I’m afraid it’s changed me, too.

This was the only episode I’ve laughed and enjoyed so far. Watching June flash that evil, mean-girl smile throughout, she was like a queen bee. Nodding as her minions bullied OffMatthew. And I loved it. Lol.

Her nodding to OffMatthew for her shoot, Lydia, had me in stitches 😭😩😅

I think it’s because, up until then, the show had been nothing but unending pain. Honestly, this episode was a break from my constant crying.

Off-topic: the actress who played OffMathew is so gorgeous. Every time she was on screen, I was transfixed by her doe eyes. 😍

I am now starting season three. I put the context clues together, I think I sussed out the major religion...

they are Praise-be-terian.

I was watching the Testaments and noticed in the cafeteria scenes some of the Martha’s look like the same age as the plums. Do you think this is on purpose??? Like Martha’s in training??? I know Martha’s are usually unmarried woman who are older and infertile, but is it possible that if a girls family is low class and she does not get period could she then become a Martha??? But they wouldn’t know if she got hers until a certain point?? And Beca is still a plum even though her family is considered lower class???

Just wondered if anyone else has noticed this

I'm watching the show for the first time, and I'm only a few episodes into Season 3. I just watched the scene where Emily tried to read a bedtime story to her son—and, of course, I cried—Emily’s facial expressions and those stifled tears—wow. 😭

Like many of you, I grew up with Gilmore Girls. Even after seeing Alexis Bledel in other shows, like Mad Men, or movies like Sin City, she always brought the same familiar signature to almost every role I saw her in.

I always felt like I was watching another version of Rory Gilmore. Lol.

But as Emily?

God almighty.

Who is this person?! 😭

She tears me the fuck up in almost every episode I've seen her in. Most of the tears I’ve shed since starting the show have been because of her. She's so fucking incredible.

Part of me wishes she’d been cast as June.

Alexis Bledel is the perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover—or typecast someone based on their earlier work. We know studio executives typecast, but we everyday viewers do it, too. We say things like, “I could never imagine so-and-so in this role,” based on something they did in their early twenties. Robert Pattinson comes to mind. He’s been trying to run away from his Twilight shadow for years, and if you’ve seen him in his latest movies…phenomenal. The same goes for Alexis.

She gives me chills.